***SPOILER WARNING*** If you don't want significant parts of 'V for Vendetta' spoiled for you, don't read this post!
But wasn't 'V for Vendetta' supposed to be (as you said about 'Watchmen') "ambiguous"?
It's never made clear whether he is "the good kind of terrorist" or if he's an insane mastermind who is just as bad as the fascist government he opposes. Well, at least not in the book (the film was OK- except that it abandoned most of the subtlety and complex characterizations of the graphic novel.)
I always kind of admired the fact that 'V for Vendetta' (the graphic novel), despite the fact that it was always a thinly-disguised diatribe against Thatcher's government, nevertheless had that kind of ambiguity; even though the government people are fascists (or working for fascists) most of them seem like fairly decent people who are doing their jobs (zey are only obeying orders!), and there's always the possibility that the world their government has created is better than the anarchy that followed. Even Adam Susan, the Leader, has motivations and a backstory that I can kind of sympathise with, even though he's clearly an evil, mass-murdering bastard.
Moore never shies away from the fact that V is a terrorist- he murders people, he blows things up, he drives people crazy in various inventive ways- if not for the fact that the government he fights is a dystopian fascist state, he would be the villain of the piece. There's this ambiguity because the apparent hero (it's his name on the cover and everything) does some monstrous things, while some of the villains seem like fairly decent people (except for the leader, the paedophile priest, the murderous scotsman and probably a few others I'm forgetting). By the end of the story it reaches a bleak, bittersweet finale where I wasn't quite sure who I was supposed to be rooting for any more and all my expectations for the book had been shattered.
So yeah... Alan Moore is a bloody genius.
Or maybe I'm just reading too much into your five-panel joke.
What shall be next, the Killing Joke? "I'm the Joker, and I once again have some grand majestic plan foiled by a goddamn guy in a bat suit who can breathe in space." "I'm a bloody genius!"
Ah V for Vendetta, the book that got me into comics. A friend recomended the movie to me after telling him i liked 1984 and because of watching that I picked up the book.
Oh V, you have made me remember the fifth of november, with your gunpowder treason and plot. I know of no reason, why this gunpowder treason, should ever not be bought.
hello linkara, i am a big fan of you on http://thatguywiththeglasses.com (bryguy87) and wonder why you choose 5 panels, it seems to be too short to truly enjoy
Well, it's to match up with the "Five-Second movies" concept on That Guy with the Glasses. And even though they don't exactly match up to five seconds, I want to be able to keep it to five panels to make my life easier.
Plus I don't want a thousand comments and e-mails saying "But that wasn't five panels!" ^_~
Oh, V, you wacky SOB you.
ReplyDelete***SPOILER WARNING***
ReplyDeleteIf you don't want significant parts of 'V for Vendetta' spoiled for you, don't read this post!
But wasn't 'V for Vendetta' supposed to be (as you said about 'Watchmen') "ambiguous"?
It's never made clear whether he is "the good kind of terrorist" or if he's an insane mastermind who is just as bad as the fascist government he opposes. Well, at least not in the book (the film was OK- except that it abandoned most of the subtlety and complex characterizations of the graphic novel.)
I always kind of admired the fact that 'V for Vendetta' (the graphic novel), despite the fact that it was always a thinly-disguised diatribe against Thatcher's government, nevertheless had that kind of ambiguity; even though the government people are fascists (or working for fascists) most of them seem like fairly decent people who are doing their jobs (zey are only obeying orders!), and there's always the possibility that the world their government has created is better than the anarchy that followed. Even Adam Susan, the Leader, has motivations and a backstory that I can kind of sympathise with, even though he's clearly an evil, mass-murdering bastard.
Moore never shies away from the fact that V is a terrorist- he murders people, he blows things up, he drives people crazy in various inventive ways- if not for the fact that the government he fights is a dystopian fascist state, he would be the villain of the piece. There's this ambiguity because the apparent hero (it's his name on the cover and everything) does some monstrous things, while some of the villains seem like fairly decent people (except for the leader, the paedophile priest, the murderous scotsman and probably a few others I'm forgetting). By the end of the story it reaches a bleak, bittersweet finale where I wasn't quite sure who I was supposed to be rooting for any more and all my expectations for the book had been shattered.
So yeah... Alan Moore is a bloody genius.
Or maybe I'm just reading too much into your five-panel joke.
nice 1!
ReplyDeleteand you are right too, this comic rulez (and even the CRAPPY movie had its moments, like the people storming the soldiers at the end)!
Yeah, you're reading too much into my five-panel joke. ^_~
ReplyDeleteWhat shall be next, the Killing Joke?
ReplyDelete"I'm the Joker, and I once again have some grand majestic plan foiled by a goddamn guy in a bat suit who can breathe in space."
"I'm a bloody genius!"
Ah V for Vendetta, the book that got me into comics. A friend recomended the movie to me after telling him i liked 1984 and because of watching that I picked up the book.
ReplyDeleteOh V, you have made me remember the fifth of november, with your gunpowder treason and plot. I know of no reason, why this gunpowder treason, should ever not be bought.
Genius!
ReplyDeleteMister Lovhaug, you did it again!
"...wait."
hello linkara, i am a big fan of you on http://thatguywiththeglasses.com (bryguy87) and wonder why you choose 5 panels, it seems to be too short to truly enjoy
ReplyDeleteWell, it's to match up with the "Five-Second movies" concept on That Guy with the Glasses. And even though they don't exactly match up to five seconds, I want to be able to keep it to five panels to make my life easier.
ReplyDeletePlus I don't want a thousand comments and e-mails saying "But that wasn't five panels!" ^_~
So how come the actual panels didn't start until about 12 sec into the video?
ReplyDeleteSuch a good comic, one of my all time favorites. The movie was a mind numbing piece of shit.
ReplyDeleteShouldn't have been in V panels?
ReplyDelete